Smile
by Asaka Kiseragi
Summary: SHONEN-AI. Christmas has arrived once again, and between assisting Jenna's "baking", putting up Christmas lights, and decorating the worlds largest Christmas tree, Felix is finding it hard to smile. (FelixPicard.)


Smile 

OoOo

Hi, me again!

…

No! Don't run away!

…

Tch. Anyway. One year ago, it was the run-up to Christmas. One year ago, I was bored. One year ago, I wrote my first Felix/Picard story.

Holy MOLY O.O That was a year ago?! Man. Well, whatever. The thing is, I'm still writing; and enjoying doing so…

So…this is to everyone that reviews my little ventures into the realms of Felix/Picard, especially those who have been reviewing since Christmas Wish. And of course Jaimie. Where would we be without Felix/Picard, eh? Just proves that fandoms bring you friends XD

WARNING: Oh come on, you people know me by now. This is shonen-ai, in the form of Felix/Picard. There are also hints of Jenna/Isaac, and Mia/Garet.

Disclaimer: Yes. Indeed. Camelot showed up at my doorstep yesterday, and bowed before me, asking me – _me _of all people – to become the new creator of Golden Sun, and to embellish it with the brilliance that is Felix/Picard. ::snorts:: Yeah. _Right_.

Enjoy!

OoOo

"FELIX WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"WAHHH!!!"

A thud echoed through the house as Felix snapped out of his daze, and landing on the floor with an eloquent thud.

Outside, perfectly pure white snowflakes fluttered from the sky to land on the ground below, covering it with a blanket of frozen ice.

Christmas had always been a big celebration in Vale, every year people spent most of their time outside – no matter how cold it got – decorating the trees, houses and anything they could get there hands on with lights, tinsel, and Christmas decorations. And every year Jenna attempted – keyword: _attempted_ – to bake a cake for her beloved Isaac.

Felix pitied his fellow Venus adept. He really did. He also pitied himself, as every year Jenna insisted (usually in a life threatening way) that he assisted her in her baking. This was on of the few reasons as to why Felix did not like Christmas. Another was the fact that – being a Venus Adept – he hated the cold. And much to our cynical Adept's utter _delight_, every single year it snowed. Brilliant.

"FELIX!!!"

Sighing, Felix heaved himself off of the floor, and slumped downstairs looking for all the world as if he were about to face the guillotine.

Jenna glared at her brother as he plodded into the kitchen, before wiping her hands on her apron,

"Do you know where the nutmeg is?" she snapped. Felix rubbed at an eye wearily, and pointed to a cupboard in the corner of the room,

"There."

"Go and get it for me!"

Felix blinked,

"…Get yourself you lazy brat."

Wrong answer Felix. Wrong answer.

"**FELIX! YOU GO AND GET THAT NUTMEG NOW BEFORE I-**

"Here you go!"

"Thank you."

Mia smiled in slight amusement, before opening the oven door to see how her mince pies were cooking. She'd agreed to do her baking with Jenna this year, mainly because of the pleading look Felix had sent her when Jenna asked. He'd looked like a kicked puppy, and Mia – who knew very well what Jenna could be like, especially at Christmas – had found herself agreeing.

It often amused her how different the two siblings were. Jenna absolutely adored Christmas, she loved the snow, she loved the presents, she loved baking (even though she was very, _very_ bad at it), and she loved watching as the Christmas lights were switched on, making Vale sparkle like an enchanted land.

Felix, on the other hand, hated the snow, never seemed to care about the presents, hated having to assist Jenna in her 'baking' (who could blame him?), and loathed the Christmas lights. Probably because every year he was the sucker that got stuck putting up said lights, and doing half of the decorations.

"Do you know if Picard is visiting for the Christmas celebrations?" Mia asked, breaking the silence that had descended upon the kitchen. Felix – who had been watching Jenna carefully in case she made anything explode – started,

"Eh?"

"You heard what she said Felix," Jenna lilted, humming happily to herself as she sprinkled nutmeg into the mixture that would hopefully become a cake. Or come alive and destroy them all.

"…I don't know," Felix shrugged, eyeing the cake mixture warily, "I haven't seen him since he was last here. And I have no idea where he buggered off to."

"Well," Mia began, pulling on some oven gloves, "He _is_ a sailor. You can't expect him to stay away from the sea for too long." She opened the oven, pulling out the tray of mince pies and setting them at the window to cool.

"Do you miss him?" Jenna asked, prodding her 'cake' with a spoon.

"Why would I miss him?"

"Dunno. You both just seem so close," she said, seemingly satisfied with the mixture as she poured it into a cake tin. Felix turned an interesting shade of pink, which – luckily for him – went unnoticed by the two females. Mia peered out into the crisp afternoon, enjoying the bracing coolness of the air, before a shock of red hair moving steadily towards the house snapped her back to her senses.

"Oh! Garet!" she waved, then had a thought, and quickly removed the mince pies from the window.

"Hey! What happened to the mince pies?" Garet asked, jogging over and sticking his head in the window.

Mia giggled.

"…Ah, whatever. Is Felix here?"

"Yes," Mia pointed to where Felix was desperately trying to pry the nutmeg away from his sister ("Jenna, you don't need to put nutmeg on the top of the cak-" "BACK OFF! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!!").

"HEY FELIX!"

Felix jumped, and the nutmeg scattered across the floor. ("NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" "It's not _my_ fault! Blame that spiky hair dolt, not me!")

"…**FELIX!**"

"WHAT?!"

Garet meeped, and ducked under the window frame. Mia blinked in worry, before turning to Felix,

"Felix, calm down. I'll clear up the nutmeg, and you see what Garet wants, okay?"

"…Thanks Mia…" Felix muttered, running a hand through his messy fringe. Why couldn't he have had a sister like Mia? Instead of that red-haired disaster waiting to happen.

"What do you want Garet?"

Garet grinned,

"Having fun Felix?"

"More fun than you could imagine," Felix replied coldly, "What do you want?"

"Dad wants you to decorate the tree," Garet said, peering past Felix to watch Mia bustling around the kitchen.

"What?"

"I said, Dad wants you to decorate the tree."

"…"

Felix groaned, and smacked his forehead into the palm of his hand. This day had just gotten _worse_.

OoOo

Grumbling, Felix shifted the abnormally large box of Christmas decorations onto his hip and glared at the Christmas tree.

This was _not_ your average Christmas tree. It wasn't one you could stick inside your house, not unless you didn't mind giving up half of your house to a tree and gaining a large hole in your roof.

No, this Christmas tree was a gigantic evergreen that stood on the edge of Vale. It was lovingly cared for, and every year was the centrepiece of the Christmas celebrations. And every year Felix was the poor idiot left to decorate it. And – as Ivan had cheerfully reminded him – he still needed to put up the lights around the village.

Needless to say, Felix was not the world's happiest person right now.

Sighing, he shifted the box again and stared at the tree, wondering where to start. He'd need a ladder to get up the tree…but would a ladder be long enough? Maybe he'd have to use Growth to get up there, and then how would he move around the tree? And get the box up as well? This really wasn't a job for just one person, if he had some help maybe –

"I don't think I've ever seen you look so unhappy Fe, dear."

Felix rolled his eyes,

"If you're here then you may as well help me Picard."

The aqua-haired Lemurian blinked at the smaller adept,

"How'd you know it was me?"

"No one else calls me 'Fe'. Or dear. It's kinda creepy." Felix said, ignoring the blood rushing to his face.

"…Ah."

Felix turned, and nodded sharply at the Lemurian, before promptly dumping the box of decorations into his arms.

"Hold these whilst I figure out how the heck to get up this damn tree," he muttered sourly, as Picard struggled with the box. With an 'oomph', Picard set the box down and began to peer through the decorations.

He grimaced,

"Um, Fe? Why is there a green and purple bauble in here?"

"Because Valeans have no sense of colour whatsoever," came the sharp reply, followed by a curse and the sound of someone falling. Felix's first plan (climb up the tree the old fashioned way) had not worked.

"When did you get back?" he asked Picard, still glaring at the tree. Picard looked up from where he was trying to salvage any decent decorations, and smiled at the Venus adept,

"Just this morning. I had to stop at Vault first, or I would've been here earlier. Do you need a hand?"

"No. I will not let this damn tree beat me!" Felix snapped, grabbing hold of a branch and trying to haul himself up again.

Picard shrugged, and went back to sifting through the mass of tacky decorations, wincing slightly as he held Felix topple to the ground again.

OoOo

Four hours, three ladders, a lot of bruises and countless Christmas decorations later, and the tree had finally been 'tamed'. Picard had managed to pull together enough red and gold decorations to actually make the tree look surprisingly good, with its lengths of golden tinsel, and red beads wound around it, and the glittering baubles that hung from the branches.

However, the fact that the tree looked good didn't change the fact that Felix _never_ wanted to see another Christmas decoration in his life.

"Thanks for helping me," he said quietly, picking up the last of the unused baubles and tossing them back into the box. Picard smiled, stretching slightly and wincing as he heard his back crack,

"It was my pleasure, Fe. It looks good, doesn't it?"

"I guess…"

Picard glanced down at the Venus Adept, who looked slightly surly,

"What's wrong Felix? Not looking forward to Christmas?"

"…I'll admit it's not my favourite time of year," Felix mumbled, picking up the box and resting against his hip again.

"Why not?"

"…I just don't like it. Why, do you like Christmas?"

"I don't know."

"Huh?" Felix blinked, staring at the golden-eyed male in surprise, "What do you mean you don't know?"

Picard folded his arms and looked seriously at Felix,

"Well…I've never celebrated Christmas. We never had Christmas in Lemuria. This'll be my first time seeing the celebration…" he shrugged lightly.

"…Then I guess you're in the right place…"

"…Hm?"

"Valeans celebrate Christmas…pretty well, I guess. Compared to other villages. We all spend it together, outside, there's dancing, food, anything and everything you can think of really," Felix said, staring up at the star decorating the top of the tree.

"I suppose it's okay…if you give it a chance."

_I guess…I've never thought about it like that. Christmas has always been there. To me it's more of an annoyance, but Picard…he's never had a Christmas before. When I think about it like that…I guess I'm…lucky, _he thought.

"I have however, heard of something people do at Christmas. I'd quite like to try it out."

Felix raised an eyebrow in suspicion,

"And what would that be?"

Slightly disturbed by the sunny smile Picard gave him, Felix's eyes followed the direction Picard's finger was pointing in.

"!! You little snea-MMPH!"

He was cut off as Picard leaned down and kissed him firmly. Nothing special, but nice all the same.

"Yes," Picard said thoughtfully, pulling away, "I can see why people enjoy doing that." He smiled at the slightly dazed Venus Adept, and relieved him of the box of decorations,

"I'll take those. We don't want you dropping them in your state of shock," he said brightly.

Felix snapped back to reality, glaring and very much aware that he resembled a beetroot in colour, before reaching out and tugging the piece of mistletoe that hung from one of the branches above their heads.

"Come on," he muttered, "You can help me put up the Christmas lights too."

"Lights?! You put up lights?!" Picard sounded rather excited.

"Yes. I hate doing it, but…" he paused, before smiling warmly for the first time that day, "I guess…if it'll make you happy…I can stand it."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "It's nothing special…but…it's nice all the same."

Picard blinked, "What is?"

"…Christmas."

OoOo

Finished! Yeah, I know, I used the whole mistletoe angle again ; But it's a nice angle. I hope you like it, it was kind of a 'spur-of-the-moment' thing, but I've had trouble finding inspiration recently. I'm just glad I managed to finish it! Anyway. Have a Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!!

And, uh, I know that to some people Christmas _is_ a special time, but please don't be offended by Felix saying it isn't! It just seemed like a good way to end the story ;

-Asaka-


End file.
